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23 Jul 2012

The Internet is real

People usually make a difference between what happens on the Internet and IRL.

In Real Life. So the internet isn't real, then?

I assume what causes people to think the Internet is but a virtual place is its infinity. Everything is on the Internet. Everyone can be anyone. Anyone can do anything. And yes, people can use masks and pretend to be persons they are not. The Internet makes it easy to forget one's responsibilities and only follow one's instincts.

And yes, it lacks the physical aspect.

That doesn't mean it's not real.

People regard the web as a consequence-free place. I disagree. There is a person behind every Internet profile, website, picture or video. These persons think and feel. Whether they choose to remain anonymous or not, whatever they say or do online still has consequences on their mental beings. If it doesn't, I believe the Internet isn't the reason; rather, it is because they are oblivious of their actions in general.

And who is to say exchanges and relations on the Internet aren't real because one can't touch? Breaking news: this is the 21st century. We go online to do quite everything. Shop, call our families, book concert tickets, look for recipes, contact our bank, listen to music, and what not. And, yes, make friends too. Find love, too.

I'm going to use my own example to illustrate this point since it's the one I know best. I think most readers of this blog know me personally, and thus are aware that some of my friends I met online. But some of you might not realise how many, and how close we can be. I met Laure, one of my closest friends, through an online forum. We've known each other five years and went on holidays abroad together two years ago. Sothea, the one friend who sends me the cutest and greatest birthday card every year I met online. I just had Nicole spend the week-end at my place. We met through Youtube a few months back. And yesterday, we were together on a beach, in bikinis—it doesn't get any closer, really.

Believe me, these relationships are all very real. And they were just as much real when they started online.

Maybe the key of this debate is what definition of realness one has. According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, real is

"actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed"

Well, then. No motion about physical contact. If it's happening to you, it's real. And if the other person was pretending to be someone they're not, it will hurt. And that's real.

Besides, in the globalised world we live in, it's most likely safe to assume everyone is in at least one long-distance relationship. Children leave. Friends move. Cousins live across the country. Colleagues are transferred abroad. But everyone agrees that these relationships are real. And yet, they rely as much on phone, emails and Skype as the ones that started online.

Double standard much?

Trust me. I live on the Internet. As I live on Earth. The Internet is everywhere. There's no escaping. We need it to make the world go round, today.